12 tips for wedding sparkler photos

With more and more couples having sparklers on their wedding day I wanted to share with you my top tips for achieving the best sparkler photos. In this post, I chat about things that you’ll need to organise beforehand and my top tips for the wedding couple during sparkler photos.

12 sparkler tips from Essex wedding photographer

Things to organise beforehand:

1. Ask permission at your wedding venue

First of all, check that you have permission to have sparklers at your wedding venue. If are allowed sparklers make sure to ask your venue if there are any areas where you can/can’t use them, it is always good to know this in advance.

2. Sand/water bucket

For safety always have a sand or water bucket nearby where you’re having the sparklers. On most occasions, your wedding venue will be able to supply this for you but do check in advance because if they don’t you will need to supply your own. Once the sparklers are finished with ask your guests to pop them in the bucket as they can still be hot.

3. Long sparklers

When purchasing your sparklers buy the long sparklers as these will keep going for longer. This is super important because it can take a little while for all the sparklers to light and you will want all the sparklers to be lit at the same time.

4. Lots of lighters

I personally find matches more difficult to use when lighting sparklers, so I would advise using lighters instead, and if you can, I’d get long lighters because sparklers can take a little while to catch and the normal lighters can make your thumb really hot (I speak from personal experience, ouch). Get quite a few lighters as the more you have the quicker it is to get going. Dependant on your wedding size I would recommend a minimum of 15 lighters.

5. Helpers

Have a couple members of the wedding party (bridesmaids/groomsmen) to help organise. It makes things a lot quicker when you have a couple of helpers, whether they are handing out the sparklers, lighting them, encouraging guests to come and join in, it all helps. More often than not your wedding coordinator may be able to help assist too, this is certainly the case at Houchins as in the past the team have been a big help (thanks for being awesome Houchins!).

6. Have an announcement

When the time of the evening comes for sparklers, get your DJ or band to make an announcement, this is a great way to get the attention of your guests and encourage them to join in the fun, the more the merrier.

Tips for the wedding couple:

7. Walk slowly

If you are having a sparkler tunnel (walking through guests either side) walk slowly, it allows for more time for photos and is a lot safer.

8. Have a couple of sparklers each

If you have enough sparklers, I always like to give the wedding couple a couple of sparklers each, what this does is just provides a little bit more light on your faces for the photos.

9. Try not to look at your wedding photographer

I know it can sometimes be really hard when they are in front of you, but by not looking at the camera it makes for much more natural photos. Just pretend I’m not there.

10. Have a kiss halfway

This isn’t a must it’s more of a cute suggestion. By the time you’re halfway down your sparkler line, you’ll have a pretty backdrop of sparklers and it’d make a lovely photo opportunity.

11. Switch out dead sparklers

If you notice your sparkler is on the way out switch it with a guest, they are always more than happy to do this.